All Things New
by Go Squished
Summary: A single question shouldn't be so confusing. But it isn't the first time Dr. Temperance Brennan doesn't know what something means. BoothBones ficlet.


Slurping up the last bit of lo mein from her wooden chopsticks, Temperance Brennan leaned back in her chair, enjoying the pleasure of a full stomach. On the other side of the desk, Special Agent Seeley Booth was picking out the last of the chicken from the carton of fried rice. He glanced at a manila folder on the edge of the desk as he threw the remains in the trash can. "I should probably take those and file them, huh?"

"If you want the killer to stay in jail and not get out on a technicality," Bones said almost nonchalantly, clearing her desk of the Chinese takeout.

With a heavy sigh, Booth stood up from his chair, grabbing his previously discarded grey jacket and tossing it over his shoulder. "Hey, Bones, have you heard about this movie, _Princes in the Tower_?"

She nodded, pushing a lock of her brown hair behind her ear. "It's a period piece set during the reign of Richard III. They turned the deaths of Edward V and Richard of York into a thriller murder mystery."

"Not exactly your thing, huh?" he asked, running a hand through his thick, black hair.

"On the contrary, at times I rather enjoy historical films. While the blatant anachronisms and period discrepancies can be a bit off-putting, some of the filmmakers do an excellent job at capturing the feel of an era. The effort that media puts in in an attempt to help the viewer associate with such unfamiliar terrain can be quite comical as well."

Raising an eyebrow at her, Booth said, "Well, Parker wants to go see it, but Rebecca said he couldn't unless one of us saw it first and approved it, since it's rated for sex and violence and language and the whole lot. I told him I'd check it out this weekend. And, you know, I really hate seeing movies alone. It's so boring. I was wondering if you'd come with me, maybe offer a different point of view on whether it'd be appropriate for him. I'll pay, if you want. I was hoping to catch the 3:30 at the Regala. It should be early enough that we can avoid all the noisy teenagers…"

"Can't," she interrupted him, reaching for her laptop and turning it on. "I have a paper that I have to present in two weeks, and I've been so busy with the case that I haven't started it. I'm going to need this weekend to catch up on it."

"Oh." His eyes dropped for a moment, then looked up at her again. "Yeah, that's cool. I can just see it myself. Good luck with your paper."

She flashed him a short smile. "Thanks."

Slipping his jacket on, Booth grabbed the folder and opened the door leading out of her office. "I'll see you later, Bones."

"Bye," she told him absentmindedly, waving without taking her eyes off the screen of the laptop. Brennan completely missed the dejected look on his face as he walked out her door.

* * *

"Earth to Temperance! Come in, Temperance!"

Bones yanked her attention away from the research files and stared into the concerned brown eyes of her co-worker. "Oh, Angela, I'm sorry. Were you saying something?"

The artist perched herself on the edge of the desk. "It's Friday night, Honey. I was just about to leave with Jack. Were you planning on going home any time soon?"

"The way this is going, I don't really think so. But I guess I can not know what to do just as well at home," she sighed, leaning over to unplug the power cord from the surge protector in the wall.

"Writer's block?" Angela asked, frowning in sympathy.

Brennan rubbed her eyes, trying to calm the headache raging between her temples. "I have all the information and I know what I want to say, but the words aren't coming. I want to synthesize it, make it concise, but there's too much that I'm not sure how to do it."

Her co-worked rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I wish I could help, but this is definitely not my specialty. Just take a break for a little while. Clear your mind. It'll come to you eventually. Just don't worry too much."

"You're right," she nodded, then stretched, trying to work out the kinks in her neck and back. "I should have just told Booth I'd go with him."

Angela froze. "Told Booth you'd go with him where?"

"A movie," she told her friend indifferently, packing up the laptop in its carrying case.

A grin spread over her friend's face. "Booth asked you out!"

Slightly startled, Bones replied, "He wanted me to accompany him to a movie so that he could see if it was okay for Parker."

"Uh huh," the sly grin on Angela's face only widened. "Anything else?"

"That's all we talked about."

Shrugging her shoulders, Angela asked, "Was…how to get to the movie or anything like that discussed?"

"He said he would pay," she told her friend. Bones sighed as the other woman's face lit up. "Look, Ange…"

"Sweetie, he asked you out!" she reiterated. Bones opened her mouth to retort, but was quickly cut off. "Do you trust me?"

Bones rolled her eyes, but at Angela's literal prodding, she announced, "Of course I do."

"Then trust me about this, Sweetie. He asked you out." The artist bit her bottom lip before admitting, "And you turned him down. For this stupid paper?"

"It's not a stupid paper, Angela! It's for the Jeffersonian! It's—"

"It's driving you crazy. Crazy enough that you turned down Booth after all this time." The door to the office opened and Jack Hodgins stuck his head in the door, raising an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "I'll be right there," she told him before looking back at her friend. "I hope it was worth it, Honey."

As she stood up to leave, Hodgins called in, "Night! See you Monday."

"Bye," she whispered, feeling a slight twinge in her heart as she watched Hodgins wrap a familiar arm around Angela's waist, pulling her close. Resting her head in her hands, she sighed heavily and wondered if it were possible to be more confused that she already was.

* * *

Maybe the skirt was too much, she wondered as she approached the movie theater the next day. Dressing up was usually a revered part of the dating process, but it felt foreign nonetheless. It was Booth. Attempting to impress him with an outfit didn't seem right.

"Enhancing one's appearance to better appeal to the opposite sex is part of the mating process," she reminded herself under her breath. Still, it didn't make her feel any better about spending extra time on her hair and makeup.

Booth was standing outside of the movie theater, watching the cars pull up as if he were looking for someone. It was slightly odd not seeing him in one of his suits, though his jeans were still fastened with one of his impressive belt buckles. She tried to ignore the rapid beating of her heart as she approached him.

Upon seeing her, he did a double take. "Bones? What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping that your offer for the movies was still good," she admitted, reminding herself not to lick her lips.

He raised an eyebrow. "What about your paper."

She simply smiled. "It can wait."

"Well, I kind of already have another date," he said, running a hand through his hair.

Smile remaining plastered on her face, she tried to swallow down the lump in her throat. "Oh, okay. That's fine. I should have called or something."

Chuckling lightly, he began, "Look, Bones, I—"

He was interrupted by a call of "Dad!" as a small blond person attached himself to Booth's leg. The FBI agent laughed at picked up his son, giving him a hug. "Hey, kiddo!"

"Mommy said that she's sorry she couldn't talk, but she was late for an appointment," the child said.

"That's okay, Parker." Booth looked at Bones, then at his son. "You remember my partner, Dr. Brennan, right?"

He nodded. "Hi, Bones."

Amused, she smiled at his father, who looked nervous. "I thought you weren't allowed to see this unless your dad saw it first."

"My friend Matthew saw it and his mom told my mom it was okay," Parker explained. "Dad, is she watching the movie with us?"

"I don't know." Booth locked eyes with Brennan. "Are you?"

"If I'm welcome, I'd love to," she said honestly.

Parker scrutinized her for a second. "Is she going to eat all the popcorn?"

Laughing, Booth promised, "We'll get an extra large one." He winked at Bones, then moved toward the ticket counter, ordering three for their film.

A little while later, the three were sitting in the theater, the gigantic tub of popcorn between them on Booth's lap. As Parker was engrossed in a preview for an upcoming cartoon, Booth leaned over and whispered, "By the way, you look really nice."

Brennan glanced at him in surprise, but smiled. "Thank you."

The movie was a good two hours and by the end of it, she was sure she could have written a thesis on the cornucopia of mistakes she found. But as Parker raved about the magnificence of the sword fight scenes, she didn't have it in him to burst his dream.

Rebecca was waiting outside in her car as they left the theater. She looked surprised to see a third person in the party, but greeted her with a smile anyway. "Hi, Dr. Brennan." Bones waved as Booth bent down to give his son a hug.

"Bye, buddy. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Bye, Dad," Parker said. "Bye, Bones!"

She waved to him also before the SUV pulled away. Booth turned to look at her. "Okay, so what did you really think of the movie?"

"It was…mildly entertaining," she replied diplomatically

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. During some parts you tensed up so much I thought you were going to attack the screen."

"Well, some of the liberties they took were a bit…out there," she admitted.

Wrapping an arm around her and leading them to the parking lot, Booth said, "Let's go get something to eat and you can rant all about it."

"You just ate half a thing of popcorn!"

"Popcorn isn't filling," he admonished as if it was a silly thing to say. "We need real food."

They talked about the movie during the car ride and through ordering their food at the dinner. "And the conclusion they drew?" she scoffed. "It would have made more sense for five-year-old Thomas More to have killed them!"

Booth chuckled into his coffee cup. "You really didn't like that movie, did you?"

"The costumes were nice," she said at last, sighing. "Even though they didn't use that kind of stitching or fabric then."

After taking a bite of his BLT and swallowing, he asked, "So, are you doing anything next weekend?"

Brennan took a second to consider the question. "I'm determined to finish my paper tomorrow. Zack and I are going to see a movie next weekend, so I don't want to have to worry about it."

His hands froze mid-air, sandwich in hand. "You…and Zack?"

She nodded. "A colleague of ours is presenting a documentary of his latest findings at Georgetown next Sunday and we're both invited to attend. I think I'm free the rest of the weekend though. Why?"

"Well," he grinned slyly, "there's a new movie about Cleopatra coming out and I thought we could see it and then you could mock it mercilessly again." Although she knew it was physically impossible, it felt as if her heart did a flip in her chest.

"Does Parker want to see this one too?" she wondered as innocently as possible.

Booth shook his head. "Nah, not enough violence or explosions for him. It'd just be us."

Her pulse sped up at the last statement, and she couldn't help but return his grin. "Sounds good to me."

* * *

A/N: This is my first Bones fic, so any constructive criticism would be very helpful. I have sort of a sequel to this in mind (which contains more Booth/Bones goodness), so if you want to see it just let me know.

Questions, comments, reactions, and reviews are greatly appreciated.


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